TLDR; Very nice tea, a bit subtle but amazing combination of traits, i love it.
The dry leaves had a smell like a mix of raisins and hints of honey, very interesting to smell, once wet the aroma changes a bit and becomes a bit fuller, yet more vague, i couldnt name the change, i brewed 6 grams in a 120 ml gaiwan at 90 degrees celsius, 30 sec, 45 sec, 60 sec, flavour was kind of subtle, but incredibly pleasant, very fast and warming, but pleasant cha qi that feels like it opens up the throat - for those who care about that - not astringent, not bitter, silky smooth texture, just a little sweet, with some vague savoury/umami notes towards the back sides of the tongue, the tea liquor is a deep red orange honey like colour, which is very clear (not turbid) and containing a healthy amount of the tiny white hairs which i've been told characterizes good quality tea, it seems to resteep very nicely, as im at like 8 steeps already without too many changes to it.
I've been exploring a bunch of teas and found the first interesting tea being the competition grade eastern beauty (dongfang meiren) on here, which was very nice, after trying a bunch of oolongs, from there i decided to try more oxidized and bug-bitten/mi xiang teas, as they seem more sweet and pleasant to me, which is how i ended up finding and trying this tea(exploring bug-bitten teas as it seems to be my preference), i've been primarily looking for a tea with a bit more flavour than the qinxin cultivar, as i've tried organic alishan oolong, alishan GABA oolong, alishan firefly milk oolong, old master dong ding oolong, and now the alpine black, the pinglin honey black, and the sun moon ruby 18 black, i was surprised to find that this tea was the most pleasant, a dark horse so to speak, it was completely out of expectation. i've been chasing sweetness and dense flavour for a while, which i've not found in the qinxin cultivar(it seems i dislike it, though it can be very aromatic, aroma is not my preference), and out of fairness, this tea isn't a very strong flavour either, but it is nonetheless the best tea i've found so far, i could see myself drinking this daily. among the runner ups you might find interesting on this shop if you have a similar palate to me is pinglin honey black, which i found was alright with a very strong raisin smell to it, and competition grade eastern beauty, which was very interesting.

This tea brews up the color of dark honey and tastes like it too. I've been brewing it anywhere between 201-207F and it seems pretty forgiving. I'm enjoying its gentle, subtle flavor. I didn't notice a maltiness, as it mentioned on my package, but it does have a faint roasty flavor in the background, just as a heads up. Not overpowering though. I've brewed mine at least 8 steeps gongfu style (5 grams in a 100 ml gaiwan) and it's holding up well (a litre of tea). Brew this one when you have the time to sit and appreciate nature without being hurried... it is gentle and soothing. But if you want a black tea to drink with rich foods, you may want to look elsewhere. This one I enjoy on its own. Thanks Matt for sourcing this lovely tea!

This is really good. It’s not bitter. It had that hint of sweetness, and the flavor over all is just right, not too bold, not too light. I came back to buy some more !

This black tea is a treat to drink. I love the subtle sweetness and how mild tasting it is. No bitterness here. Just pure deliciousness!

This tea is very good. I’m practicing my gongfu brewing and from the third brew on I’m getting consistently light and smooth cups every time. Will keep practicing and can’t wait to try the others!